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but they issue from the mouth of the scop, who tells the story of Cain and
Abel^^ at the edge of Grendel’s mother’s horrible swamp just after
everyone fears that Beowulf is dead. The scop theorizes a connection
between Grendel and stories from Christian mythology, and though this
short tale is ostensibly a theory of Grendel’s origins, the scop makes such
obvious parallels between it and Unferth, that as a result Hrothgar
banishes Unferth from his kingdom. The scop says:
“[Cain’s] act is not unknown to you. It is one you have
witnessed. Cain’s act went unavenged, as the one known
to you is unavenged. Because of that wickedness, evil
stalks freely among you, and men who believe
the